11. Romance: Devdas (1955)

Support the show! Perhaps the most critically acclaimed among the 20-plus film interpretations of Sarat Chandra Chattopdhyay’s novella, Bimal Roy’s 1955 film, Devdas, sends us into a discussion of mid-century Bollywood and the influence of Bengali literary culture.  Plus, how does the movie compare to the 2002 incarnation, much better known to non-desi audiences and yet often maligned as inferior by South Asians and the diaspora?  Finally, we discuss changing attitudes about domestic abuse and sexism throughout the history of films in the romance genre. Sources Raheja, Dinesh at Rediff https://www.rediff.com/entertai/2002/dec/09dinesh.htm#:~:text=He%20used%20his%20perceptive%20camera,person%20caught%20in%20extraordinary%20situations. Upadhyaya, Amit at The Print https://theprint.in/features/reel-take/why-bimal-roys-devdas-remains-the-first-among-equals/180379/ Wikipedia